Around 1997 when DVDs became a widely accepted new format for movies and television series a paradigm shift occurred in our culture. No longer did we have to fuss with magnetic tape that would stretch out or break. There was a durable format for home entertainment and it was great. This naturally affected the way films were marketed, allowed small independent film makers to show their work and allowed us to collect all the episodes of our favorite television series. It also was a major turning point for one small portion of our population; the stand up comedian. DVDs enabled more comics to gain a wider audience than ever before. In the sixties the comedy party album became popular. It permitted comedians far greater latitude than ever with their acts. They could probe socially touchy subjects and use language that would never be considered acceptable on television. With the DVD the comedians of today are given a chance to not only be heard but seen. This has opened the way to many comics who employ physical comedy as a routine part of their acts. Comedians that would never be known outside a small circle of comedy club devotees to anyone with a DVD player. One such comedian is Russell Peters. He is an Anglo-Indian Canadian comedian so without this venue many of us here in the States would never have an opportunity to see him perform his act. His latest DVD/CD combo is ‘Russell Peters: Red, White and Brown’. It is hysterical. The man is funny and has an excellent stage presence. While there is a CD as part of the set you will want to watch him perform to catch every nuance of his act. This was made possible by another fairly recent innovation for home entertainment; Comedy Central. Niche TV networks are now possible and this one focuses on off beat stand up acts, this one included. The DVD is released through parent company Paramount and if you enjoy laughing this is one to get.

Peters is like a lot of so called over night sensations; he has been honing his craft for two decades. He started in small venues and made his way to teen comedies like ‘Senior Skip Day’. Thanks to Comedy Central he has made his way into the big times and even has a deal for a sit com with Fox television. His previous comedy tour ‘Outsourced’ was a huge hit and help too make Peters a growing name in the business. He has the kind of humor that the audience can readily identify with. He speaks about common experiences through the eyes of a person of a definite and identifiably ethic background. Peters has an easygoing personality that makes you think of him as the guy in the local hang out who is always able to see things with a different, humorous slant. The stage show was filmed here in New York City. We tend to be a tough audience for stand ups so his success in this gig demonstrates the man has talent.

Peters takes the stage to the sounds of record scratching, a former profession of his. In what has become standard for a stand up act the stage is bare except for a nearby stool with some bottled water on it. He does have the addition of a DJ and scratch artist as a nod to his first entertainment love. Peters looks at the audience and notices the mixed racial couples; white girls with non white guys. Much of his humor is drawn from his personal experience as a brown man in America, as the title of this concert tour notes. He notes that one couple brought their eight year old son; considering his language can get a tad adult one has to wonder about this parental decision. Peters drops the ‘F’ and ‘S’ bombs without care as the natural way he speaks and not so much for shock value. As he scans the members of the audience he spots some Asians and starts taking about how they love ‘Dance, Dance Revolution’. He turns to a white man to reassure him it is not an actual revolution and Asians will not come to his door demanding his family start dancing. Peters is extremely adept at doing various accents. He can transform his voice from his normal American accent to just about any ethic group you can imagine. His whole body gets into the act. Peters is not the type of comedian who can drive the camera man crazy by pacing back and forth on stage but he is very animated. His energy helps a lot to pull the audience into his strange view of the world we all live in. He asks the audience if there are any Arabs present and when a section of the theater shouts out he rolls his eyes and says ‘good, you’re united’. Peters plays with the preconceptions and prejudices of the audience. For him such negatives work for him since he is able to find humor in how divisive such attitudes are to us as a society. He tells the Arabic members of the audience he doesn’t do Arab jokes not because he doesn’t find them funny but because he doesn’t want to die. We laugh because we understand where he is coming from. The best way to fight misconceptions about a culture is to laugh; not at them but with them. This is the genius of this man. He is able to speak his mind and can base his humor on being part of a group considered to be a minority.

He blames the media for seeking sensational headlines by perpetuating racial stereotypes. They do this in a subliminal way. The example he uses is the news may show an Asian man and then a car accident. They are not coming out and saying anything negative but the images are juxtaposed in the minds of the viewers. He is also able to find humor in his own ethnic background. There is a large Indian contingent at the show and Peters throws more than a few jokes at them. He goes into a slew of cheap jokes stating that Indian people are not insulted by this stereotype; they embrace it as the proper way to be; careful with money. Peters includes himself in the cheap jokes. When he sees a high end piece of clothing and turns the tag over to see that it was made in India he wonders if he should buy it or just call his uncle. His audience is one of the most racially diverse I have ever seen in a comedy DVD. Peters is so affable that he appeals to everyone. Much is act consists of calling on one ethnic group after another and focusing his material on them. It appears that his audience is seating in prearranged groupings since you can hear the shouts coming from different parts of the theater. Peters ignores no group and has something to say about just about every nation.

This is a great old fashion party album on DVD. Comedy Central and Paramount did a fine job in bringing Peters into your home. There is a commentary track featuring Peters and his director Jigar Talati and some deleted scenes to round things out. Peters is not for the whole family but he is very funny.